Maybe, just maybe, people who are poor are also poor decision makers. People who are poor make poor decisions regarding continuing their education, work habits, immediate vs long term choices, foreclosure, credit card balances, choosing what they eat and becoming obese; literally surprisied by the consequence of eating more calories than needed. Poor people also smoke cigarettes way more than non poor people. Poor people don't learn from their mistakes; have very little insight into how they got into the situations their in; blame others for their difficulties. In short, it is no surprise, that the culture of obesity resides in those who make poor decisions for themselves as well as role model this behavior to those for whom they are supposedly responsible. Raising people out of poverty takes changing how they think and behave, not money. Lottery winners are a great example of wealth descending upon poor people, who are in reality, many times, socially dysfunctional people: money gone in 5 years.